Your Home of the Oregon ILLINI. Oskee Wa Wa!

Mimosas for everyone as the Juice (Isiah Williams) brings it home to Champaign for Illinois with a 23-20 win over SPARTY today. Oh My! We needed this win today, our first in 10 BIG-10 attempts. At 2-3 it's not improbable that we could be 4-3 after the next two home against Indiana and Ohio. See the previous post for much more on my Fightin' Illini and their big win today in East Lansing. Off the hot seat: Ron Zook. Welcome to that spot John L. Smith. This was the upset / victory of the day in my book and most others. I felt good about it after seeing that Kermit the Frog was the grand marshall of their homecoming parade. Not kidding. Come on Ohio State, we're getting ready for the BUCKS in Champaign this year on November 4th. Fear the Fighting Zookers of Illinois.

I got a little greedy with my picks today in taking Ohio (6 points) and UTAH (4 points). Ugh, what happened to my UTES? This just in, Boise State is for real this year. One of the biggest hits you'll ever see happened in this game by Boise State against Utah. It was a slobber-knocker blow to say the least. Kudos to Mr. Fred 'the real deal'. 54 points on a weekend like this is very impressive. Congrats to the others who landed 55's (Freiley, Larson, and Dustin). CFB Final has you covered on the highs and lows of WEEK5.

This just in - Ohio State is good. They are clearly the class of the country right now after really man-handling Iowa in Iowa City tonight. The BUCKS led for 56 minutes tonight on the road. It really wasn't that close, and Iowa is / was a good team. But with Smith, Ginn, Gonzalez, Pittman, and more is there a team in the land who can even compete with BUCKY? I'm not sure there is. Maybe Auburn or LSU. It's all downhill now for the BUCKS until the season finale at home against Michigan. That will likely be a match-up in Columbus of two undefeated teams for a right to play in the title game.

Who else is hot right now? Here's a summary of Saturday's TOP 25 Action. Wow - many squads looked really good today while others really struggled. First, the contenders who really impressed me today in no order of dominance:

1) How about Clemson? They whaled on Louisiana Tech today. And if it weren't for a missed extra point up on Chestnut Hill they would be undefeated for the season. 51-0 is still an impressive victory.

2) If you had Sam Houston State and 50 points you still lost today as Texas beat-up on the boys from SHS 56-3. Texas is looking good after the early loss at home to the greatest team in the land.

3) This just in, Michigan has the jug again. The little brown jug now goes back to Ann Arbor wiht BIG BLUE. It's not easy to win in the metrodome, trust me - I know. But the Wolverines went on the road in the BIG-10 and came away with the win and the jug.

4) How about those SEC teams? There are no such things as easy road wins in the best conference in the land, the SEC. Auburn did it against the Gamecocks Thursday night. Florida held home court tonight by beating Bama. LSU smacked-down Mississippi State at home as well. Georgia is struggling but found a way to hold on tonight in OXFORD against Ole Miss despite not having a passing game or a QB. Yikes. They get Tennessee next weekend between the hedges. How about those Vols and Eric Ainge? They whiped-out Memphis today, big!

5) Boise State and Oregon. Both of these Western squads are on the rise. If they were stock it would be buy buy buy buy buy. The Broncos cleaned-up on the road against what I thought was a decent UTAH team. And Belotti's boys quacked all over the Sun Devils in Tempe despite the 102F heat. Oregon looks very very very good right now. They are for real. What Oklahoma game? This team just validated its ranking in my opinion. And, if they had a little stronger defense they would be in the hunt for the title. Not sure they can handle CAL next weekend on the road or USC later this year in LA.

6) Speaking of hot, add CAL to this list. They've bounced-back nicely after the early TN loss @ Rocky Top. I would argue that if that game were replayed today on a neutral field that the BEARS would beat the VOLS in a close game. But for today, they devoured the Beavers today in Corvallis. Glad I didn't buy tickets to this one.

7) How about a little love for the ACC. No, not FSU or Miami. I'm talking the Demon Deacons and Gerogia Tech. Yes John, I love those Jackets. Calvin Johnson and Reggie Ball are a dynamic combination. Just ask Va Tech. And is WF now 5-0, are you kidding me? Yes, 34-14 over Liberty today. It is true.

8) Garret Wolfe and NIU. Wow, 353 yards rushing tonight against Ball State. GW is averaging 9 yards / carry. If the Heisman trophy were given out right now would he not be your winner?

9) Marginal wins today: How about USC just squeaking by over WSU? They just barely survived in the Pallouse. What about Notre Dame beating Purdue but giving up a ton of yardage again on defense? Some guy from Purdue had 250 yards receiving. Nebraska barely held on in OT to beat Kansas. Pitt, Penn State, and TT also had decent wins today. Cesar over Jim as the Red Raiders handled the Aggies in College Station. Uh oh!

10) Speaking of less than marginal, how far have those Canes fallen? Wow, 14-13 over Houston in the Orange Bowl. This is getting ugly in Miami already. What's on tap for next week? Well, the game of the week might just be Oregon @ CAL. Then again, the Dawgs will host the VOLS between the hedges. Hmmm....Did I say LSU and Florida? Wow!

My top 10:

1) Ohio State, 2) Auburn, 3) LSU, 4) Michigan, 5) USC, 6) Florida, 7) WV, 8) Texas, 9) Oregon, 10) Clemson. If you care about more official things, here's the AP TOP 25. I disagree with some of their inflated rankings including USC and WV. Michigan and Florida belong higher-up in the polls right now. LSU is way too low in the AP. Louisville might be in the right spot. Georgia is also overrated after squaking by one of the worst teams in the SEC. The Dawgs are in trouble unless they find some offense besides rushing, and a QB.

Your Heisman leaders: Troy Smith, Adrian Petersen, Garrett Wolfe, and Brady Quinn.